Quicksand
by yas-m
Summary: A two-shot. After the O6 are rescued, they have to go on the run to hide from Widmore, Hanso, Dharma, etc…
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Quicksand

**Characters:** Jack/Kate

**Summary:** A two-shot. After the O6 are rescued, they have to go on the run to hide from Widmore, Hanso, Dharma, etc…

**AN: **This was supposed to be a one shot, but I went into explaining the back-story a bit more than I had intended so I decided to split it up. Next chapter will be Jate heavy (it is the original one shot) and the first part is mostly background info. The truth is, this is just another excuse to write a Jate one shot, the background story is not all that important, but it's all typed up now, might as well share it.

* * *

He stares up as the dark clouds move over to cover the green-grey sky, preparing for another wet evening. He rests his elbows against the rusted railing and looks down towards the courtyard. Two kids run after each other in the abandoned playground, between a broken down swing set and a neglected jungle gym. A young couple make out in a red Mini, parked the entrance, ignoring the disapproving glare of the motel clerk. He sighs and turns around to stare blankly at the door in front of him.

Room 23. He scoffs and reaches into his pocket in search of his cigarettes. She hates it when he smokes. It pisses her off, actually. But since she slammed the door in his face and locked him out of their room two hours ago, a cigarette won't do any harm at the moment, he thinks to himself.

He is not exactly sure what he had done to have him end up locked out for the evening, but he had a few ideas. It had been a rough day. Hell, it has been a rough year.

The six Oceanic survivors were rescued and given a heroes welcome. Their tale of survival travelled across the world and they were instant celebrities. But shit hit the fan with a few months. Their lie was exposed and they became targets for a handful of evil and powerful entities that wanted them dead.

Eight months after the rescue, he got a letter from Sayid, handwritten and smelling of blood. Nothing has been the same since. He packed a bag as quickly as he could, just a few clothes and stacks of cash. No ID, to passport, no credit cards. He drove frantically at 4am to Kate's house and let himself in. He woke her up, explained what was happening and went to the safe in the basement as she packed her bag. He pulled out the gun and shoved it into his bag. She whispered that she was ready and he watched as she pulled a picture of Aaron out of its frame and fold it into her jeans pocket.

Aaron. His nephew. They found that out a week after the lie was exposed and luckily the media didn't get to that right away. Margo helped them locate Claire's mother, and Aaron has been with her ever since.

They have been on the run for almost a year. Fifteen countries in eleven months as they try to escape from the powers that hunt them down. They never stay in the same place long enough to settle down or catch their breath.

Sayid runs logistics, sending them messages of where to go and when. Sun is in hiding. She gathers information through her father's extensive network. She had miscarriage weeks after the rescue and no one had seen her since. Hurley checked himself into Santa Rosa way before the mayhem started. Sayid keeps an eye on him and updates Jack and Kate regularly. He seems to be doing fine, and Jack sometimes envies him for not having a clue about the reality they have come back to. Desmond and Penny disappeared the minute the made it back to land. The Oceanic survivors heard nothing about from them until a week before the lie was exposed. They still remain invisible but have been helping Jack and Kate since the two survivors started their life on the run.

Jack and Kate were tasked with a simple job. Bring down the evil powers. Expose their plans. Expose what they have done. Save those left on the island. They do not know where Sayid gets his information. Sayid would never admit it to them, but Ben Linus's information has been accurate since day one.

Jack paces the space outside their motel room, waiting to hear the latch on the inside unhook. It's their third night in Cordoba and he regrets complaining about the heat the day before. It had not stopped raining since the previous evening. Hot, smelly showers mercilessly drenching the city.

They had barely escaped the two gunmen following them that afternoon. They'd managed to steal the package Sayid had told them about. It looked like they were making a clean getaway when she muttered something about it being a little too easy. She had barely finished her sentence when a gunshot went flying right between them. She shoved the suitcase into his chest and they both ran towards the parking lot. They did not even make an attempt to start their car. She hot-wired a Chevy, and he barely made it into the car as she sped off. She was in charge of driving as he twisted in his seat and aimed his gun at the black Ford that was chasing them.

The streets were wet and slippery, and her driving was not helping his aim as he tried to avoid civilians and wide-eyed tourists clicking away with their cameras. The chase lasted forty minutes and the bullet that hit him only grazed his arm. He wraps it once he caught his breath and made sure no one is following them anymore.

He had known something was off when she snapped at him on the train from Paris and he mumbled sarcastically about forgetting her birthday.

He bit his tongue just as he said something about her having to mention it being too easy but she had heard him and she slammed the brakes a little too hard. His injured arm hit the side of the door ad he hissed in pain. She left the car parked over three spaces and stormed to their room. He shoved the gun into his pants and pulled the suitcase from the back seat.

It was useless to apologize. She grabbed the suitcase from him and slammed the door in his face. That was three hours ago. And now he is all out of cigarettes and his legs can no longer handle the constant pacing, nor can his fists handle another round of knocks. He sits with his back against the door and he hears her moving around the room every once in a while. He drops his head back occasionally, sending a thumping sound through the door that he knows she avoids. The wound on his arm hurts and he curses out loud, scaring the young cleaning lady coming out of the adjacent room. He does not bother to apologize as the lady passes by him mumbling insults that his high school knowledge of Spanish deciphers as _fucking_ _Americans_.

He hears the door unlock behind him and he waits a minute before he pushes himself up. He takes a deep breath and walks in.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** Quicksand (Part 2 of 2)

**Characters:** Jack/Kate

**Summary:** A two-shot. After the O6 are rescued, they have to go on the run to hide from Widmore, Hanso, Dharma, etc…

**AN: **This is kind of all over the place. I hope it makes sense and hope you guys enjoy it. It was really hard to write this for some odd reason. In case it is not all hat clear, italics are flashback.

* * *

He stared up as the dark clouds move over to cover the green-grey sky, preparing for another wet evening. He rested his elbows against the rusted railing and looks down towards the courtyard. Two kids ran after each other in the abandoned playground, between a broken down swing set and a neglected jungle gym. A young couple were making out in a red Mini, parked the entrance, ignoring the disapproving glare of the motel clerk. He sighed and turned around to stare blankly at the door in front of him.

Room 23. He scoffed and reached into his pocket in search of his cigarettes. She hated it when he smoked. It pissed her off, actually. But since she slammed the door in his face and locked him out of their room two hours ago, a cigarette wouldn't do any harm at the moment, he thought to himself.

He was not exactly sure what he had done to have him end up locked out for the evening, but he had a few ideas. It had been a rough day. Hell, it has been a rough year.

Jack paced the space outside their motel room, waiting to hear the latch on the inside unhook. It was their third night in Cordoba and he regretted complaining about the heat the day before. It had not stopped raining since the previous evening. Hot, smelly showers mercilessly drenched the city.

He hears the door unlock behind him and he waits a minute before he pushes himself up. He takes a deep breath and walks in.

He's lucky she has never had good aim because the hair dryer she throws at him misses his head by a few inches and crashes into the picture frame hanging by the door. The glass come shattering onto the floor, raining white splinters onto the green carpet.

She does not bother to apologize and he does not bother to argue.

And when she announces half-heartedly that she is going to bed, he just nods his head as he picks up the broken shards from the floor. He watches from the corner of his eye as she pulls back the comforter and lay in bed, not bothering to change from the towel she had wrapped around her body after the shower she'd obviously taken while locking him outside.

This was not their first fight, not by a long shot. It was not their worst fight either. There were those three days they were separated in Rome.

_He knew that a meeting in broad daylight, in the middle of tourist season, with cameras flashing right and left and their faces being plastered on every media outlet for a year, was definitely no the best idea. But they were meeting an informant from the Hanso Foundation and those were his rules. They got into a fight at the Pantheon of all places, about what he can barely remember, and they bolted in opposite directions. ._

_He expected she'd be back when she'd cooled off, and she had expected the same of him. He may not remember why they fought, but he clearly remembers how worried he was, thinking she might have been caught, or worse, killed. He remembers how it felt to go to bed without her in his arms, how empty it was going to sleep without her body curled into his, her head on his chest, and waking up to her hair tickling his chin. He had sworn back then that no matter_ _how angry they would be at each other, he would never let her out of his sight._

He strips off his bloody, wet shirt and lies next to her, on top of the comforter. He needs a few minutes' rest before hopping into the shower himself, washing off the day's events and preparing for what the next may bring.

The rain continues its endless attack and the wind assists the uproar that the sky has launched, but despite it all, Jack somehow manages to fall asleep. It is midnight when he is startled awake. The phone in his pocket vibrates, bringing him out of his uncomfortable slumber.

He checks his phone. A new message from Sayid, obviously. A date and time, barely 42 hours from now and an address in Germany. Jack sighs and drops the phone on the bedside table next to him. They'd never been sent to Germany before. Sayid was based there, and he took are of anything that needed to be done there. Jack wonders what it could be that they needed to be there for.

He pulls himself off the bed and heads to the bathroom. The green and white tiles and generic soap and towels of motels nearly make him sick. He is half asleep as he works on the bandage on his arm. He cleans the wound and wraps it before getting into the cold shower. The cool water against his skin is a welcome change to the warm, sticky rain, and he allows himself the few moments of comfort, of the cascading water hitting against his sore muscles, before the water pressure dies out and ends his shower a little sooner than he'd hoped.

He walks out and back towards the bed. He is pleasantly surprised that she's turned around in her sleep, no longer lying with her back towards him. He is secretly glad that her subconscious is not so mad at him that he will have to spend the night with that distance between them.

He smiles, pulling the comforter off of his side of the bed and getting in, and he recalls the first night they shared a bed.

_It was their second week on the run, and while their relationship had been slowly developing before their lives took that awful turn, they had not slept together yet. They had completed their first task, and it had not gone as smoothly as anyone had hoped for. _

_She was hurt, sprained her ankle jumping off a ledge, and their hotel room was ransacked. They had to steal their first car that night and he pulled a gun out at an innocent hotel concierge to get them a room._

_They were tired, exhausted, and scared, and they silently went straight to bed. She took the bed closer to the door; perched for flight, while he took the one closer to the balcony; ready to fight. He'd been tossing and turning for what felt like hours when he sensed a presence by his bed. He opened his eyes to find her standing there, eyes wide and face streaked with tears. He reached over to her and felt her shaking under his touch. His eyes asked the questions and she whispered with a strangled sob, "I'm scared."_

_He pulled her to him, instinctually wrapping his arms around her and encouraging her to lie down next to him on the small bed. He lay on his side and she found her place next him, turning in his embrace, her fingers clutching to his shirt until her knuckles turned white. He wrapped one arm around her while with the other he eased the grips she had on him and laced his fingers with hers. He placed a gentle kiss against her forehead, the closest contact they've had in two weeks, and urged her to sleep. He let his lips linger against her warm skin, whispering reassuringly until he felt her relax in his arms and finally her eyes close. And for the first time in two weeks, he finally managed a full night's sleep himself._

He lies down facing her, enjoys her warm breath against his cool skin, and tentatively runs his fingers against her shoulder and arms. She shivers under his methodic touch but draws even closer to him until her cheek is pressing against his chest. He smiles, turns onto his back and pulls her with him. She rests against his chest, drapes her arm languidly across his stomach, while his arms wrap around her waist. He falls asleep, well aware that this blissful comfort will only last a few hours before morning comes back with its reality.

_Six months after their life on the run had begun, Sayid sent the message saying they had a week off, but also sent a list of cities for them to avoid during that off week. They were in Southern Europe at the time, but all the cities they wanted to take a break in were on the forbidden list. _

_They ended up renting a beach house in Limassol for five days. But they not once got to enjoy that beach during those five days. She laughed against his lips when he suggested they go for a swim. "I've had enough sand and water to last me a life time," she said, playfully nibbling at his lower lip, "you, on the other hand, I have not nearly had quite enough of." _

_He'd woken up to her naked body sprawled on top of his, her lips making a meal of his neck. Ten minutes later, she had him on his back, as she straddled his legs, her unruly waves framing her face and falling onto his chest. His hands travelled the expanse of her bare back and he gave her full control of the moment. The wind blowing through the room caused her skin to shiver, but not as much as what he was letting her do to them. She collapses against him, sweaty and out of breath. He waits for her to calm down from her high before he flips them over, his lips latching onto her neck, and she whispers, "I love you."_

He wakes up to the loss of her weight on top of him and turns to see the bathroom door shut and the light turned on. Her clothes have disappeared from the chair across the room, and her towel lay haphazardly on the floor. He gets out of bed and walks towards the bathroom, knocks gently and asks, "Kate? You in there?"

He hears a soft sob before she mumbles "mhmm…".

"We need to leave to Germany in a few hours, ok?" he says and when she doesn't say anything after a few moments, he taps gently at the door again and says, "Hey… are you ok? Can I come in?"

He is faced with a heavy silence again and that's when he slowly opens the door. He takes a step in and fins her sitting at the edge of the bathtub. She wipes her eyes with her sleeve and gives him a half a smile, "hey."

He returns her pained smile and takes the few steps until he is in front of her. He kneels in front of her, his hands resting on her thighs, rubbing gently and he says, "talk to me."

She swallows a sob, and looks at him, biting her lower lip. His thumb gently wipes away the tears travelling down her cheeks, "what is it, Kate? Please, don't shut me out," he pleads with her, "I'm sorry, whatever I did, or said, I am so sorry."

Kate shakes her head, taking his hand in hers, and with her eyes shut; she cocks her head towards the sink. That is when Jack sees it, the white and pink stick; a pregnancy test. Jack swallows hard as he reaches for it and Kate's hold on his hand tightens….

Seven thousand miles away, Charles Widmore wakes up to the unmistakable sound of a gun cock against his forehead.

"It's over, Charles," he hears, as his eyes adjust to the sunlight flooding his room.

"Benjamin? What are you doing here, boy?" he says, trying to sit up straight but failing as Benjamin pushes the gun harder against his temple.

Benjamin smirks, "I'm here to tell you it's over, Charles. They brought you down, they have all they need."

Charles's eyes travel around the room madly, trying to make sense of what he is hearing. Surely, Linus has to be lying. There is no way those five nobodies could bring three international corporations down.

"You're bluffing, Benjamin," Charles says, with sweat dripping against the cold gun pressed against his forehead.

Benjamin gives him a cold smile and turns slightly to turn on the television. "Not bluffing, Charles. See for yourself."

Both men watch silently as a representative from Hanso Foundation and Dharma Initiative holds a press conference exposing everything. The camera pans around the astonished crowd in the press room and pauses momentarily at the smiling face of an Iraqi whose eyes well up with tears.

Back in the green and white tiled bathroom, Jack feels the seconds turn into hours as his and shakes while he turns over the stick between his fingers. An involuntary gasp escapes his throat when he sees the pink plus sign. His tears match hers when he looks back at Kate. He pulls her to him, crushes her in his embrace, and he runs his fingers through her hair.

They sit there, holding each other for what seems like hours. And when they finally let go, they're both terrified of what this means, given their lives, but equally excited.

Minutes later they get the call that changes their lives, again. Desmond's accent was never hard to decipher, except for now. The Scotsman is too excited to be understood and Penny's laughter can be heard on the other end. She takes the phone from him and instructs Kate to turn on the news.

The party in Berlin brings the Oceanic Six together for the first time since they were rescued, and when Sun asks Kate why she isn't drinking, Kate just smiles and Jack kisses her neck swiftly, pulls her off her chair and onto the dance floor where they dance for hours, long after the party had ended, and discuss baby names as they watch the sunrise from the first hotel room they have registered under their real names.


End file.
